The Premier League has joined La Liga, the Bundesliga and Serie A in calling for fundamental reforms to the governance of FIFA, football's global governing body.

In a joint statement issued today, the four major European leagues said reforms were necessary to make FIFA more transparent, objective, proportionate and inclusive.

The leagues said they had decided to speak out because FIFA's expanding activities have implications for football stakeholders around the world.

The statement comes days after FIFA president Gianni Infantino proposed an external review of the organisation's operations following controversy over his now-withdrawn plan to sell a stake in the World Cup to private investors.

The four leagues described the episode as one of the biggest abuses of power in FIFA's history and argued that the withdrawal of the FIFA Forward Enterprise, FFE, scheme had not addressed the wider governance concerns.

While football's stakeholders ultimately forced the withdrawal of the FIFA Forward Enterprise scheme, the conditions that led to FFE remain.